Shop Smith Restoration.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Good work. You gonna show the finished product to the previous owner?

Thanks, more than likely I will.
I took the shaft apart and the thing has four sets of ball bearings in it.
Two big bearings in the back where the pulley is and two smaller ones on an inner shaft.
Works just like the spline drive on a drill press.
Worth

[Worth1]

Got everything but the motor to take apart clean rewire and paint.
Oil base enamel takes forever to dry and cure but good things don't come in a hurry.
They used the same stuff on old cars and it lasts forever.
Worth

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[Worth1]

I have been pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to wire this darn motor.
Not only did I not take pictures of how it was wired I can barly remember how it was wired.
Some time in the past someone took the switch off the front and direct wired it to a bunch of wires in the back along with another switch.
If you look ate the one motor picture you will see two wires coming out of it.
I have looked on line at these old motors and I can only see one pair of wires coming out.
Now O know what they did.
They tried to put a reverse switch on the machine but some how wired it wrong.
I know they wired it wrong because I remember how the switch was wired.
The reason I cant remember how they wired it is because they didn't wire it right if that makes any sense.
The motor has two pairs of wires one pair will make it run one way the other pair the other way.

Worth

[dmforcier]

It looks like there is a wiring box housing on the motor - the oval bit held on by two screws. I bet they got inside and dicked around.

[Fusion_power]

Do you have an electrolysis bath? all it takes is a plastic 55 gallon drum, a sheet of stainless steel for the positive electrode, a battery charger, and some lye.

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/ru..._derusting.htm

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/CRL/conserv...al/File10a.htm

[loulac]

If I had read the word "lathe " in the headline I would have jumped in the train sooner !
Great work has been done on that lathe, the wiring of the motor apparently isn't easy to read, to play it safe I suggest you send pictures of the wiring to experts on a technical site. I can't see why a lathe designed to work on wood should run in both ways, make it simple !
Keep us posted, the first shavings are not far away now, how do you intend to fight the dust ?

[Worth1]

I know how to wire up the motor I just need to trace out the wires and look at some diagrams.
There is no terminal block inside the pecker head, that is what they are called here in the states.
Everything is direct wired.
The thing had a 4 way switch mounted on the back and the on off switch was missing.
Many other parts are missing as well.
The thing had a saw table and all sorts of attachments that I dont even care to find.
It can be used as a drill press and I dont need that either.
As for the dust this thing will be mounted on a rolling stand and rolled outside.
When not in use it will be turned in the upright position and the rest of the stand will be used as a work bench.
I have no idea what was on the cast parts it must have been spry on primer.
I took the parts and either soaked them in hot water all night with laundry soap or boiled them in citric acid and laundry soap.
The grease dirt and what ever the rusty red stuff was came right off.
Worth
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[Worth1]

From having to soak this thing in kerosene.
Then beating everything apart with a board and sledge hammer to giving the stuff a flick of the hand and watching it slide with ease from one end to the other.
I honestly never thought I would see this day come.
Now it is on to making or buying the parts I need that are missing and cleaning up three locking handles.
I may rebuild the locking handles to something better later.
The open belts need to be covered up too.
They are a disaster waiting to happen.

Worth

[Salsacharley]

Gee Whiz Worth. You only started this thread 5 days ago. I'm amazed at how fast you've rebuilt this thing.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

Gee Whiz Worth. You only started this thread 5 days ago. I'm amazed at how fast you've rebuilt this thing.

It helps to have the right tools and have a lifetime of mistakes behind me.
The other is to be willing to except a certain level of flaws and knowing the reality of what your are going to do with it and that is use it.

I got tired of looking at the pitted rusty tool post that isn't really the tool post it is something else but will be the new tool post.
It was either sink or swim so I turned the pits out of it and it is still good enough to use.
It has a pretty good finish on it now.
All I have to do it make a stop collar that was lost somewhere in the machines life.
I turned the rod at 1000 RPM's at a 0.0013 per inch feed rate per revolution.
This turned the chips blue they were so hot.
When you see this kind of chip your production is right and the finish is good.
Worth

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[dmforcier]

Wow, you took a lot off. Is that a shoulder about 1" down?

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Some of you may have seen where I picked up an old Shop Smith from way back when.
More than likely one of the first that was made back in the late 40's or early 50's.
If not here is what it looked like.

Since then it has been disassembled and put in the garage.
It took some doing as it was all rusted up.


The two long tubes are more or less what you call ways, this is what other parts of the lathe slides on.
Today I have one of them polished back up.
You cant turn the stuff off I had to polish it off to maintain the proper diameter of the tubes.
One down and one to go, it is a lot of work in a 95 degree garage, it makes the 80 degree house feel cool.
As times goes on I will continue to post the progress of this old relic here.

Worth.
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Have you ever had a moment when you wish you could go back in time to see something in its exact color and state before it was ever used? The black does look good.

I am glad you posted pictures before restoration as well.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Wow, you took a lot off. Is that a shoulder about 1" down?

It will be but I need to make the part that goes on it first.
The thing was cheaply made in the standards of the 40' and 50's to make it affordable for the average person in the middle class bracket.
I intend to remedy some of that.

Even then it is of a much higher quality than some of today's junk
The cast iron is very good quality.

The machine is creepy dangerous in today standards.
In the drill press position just one little turn or bump of the locking lever can send the whole motor assembly crashing down.

I grew up around huge open flat belts running saw mills and other milling equipment so it doesn't bother me.

Worth

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Have you ever had a moment when you wish you could go back in time to see something in its exact color and state before it was ever used? The black does look good.

I am glad you posted pictures before restoration as well.

Salt I know exactly what it used to look like.
There is one old dude on Youtube that is using his fathers or grand fathers and it has never been restored i dont think and looks new.

Just google Shopsmith 10E or 10ER

Hard to beat good lead based paint.
There are a ton of missing parts.
You could even use it for a band saw.
I was battle ship navy gray.
The must have been a huge surplus of the paint after the war because so munch machinery was painted that color after the war.

I chose the gloss black because that is what I had in stock.

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

"There are a ton of missing parts."

That puts adventure into restoration, but the way I think of it is as a way to improve - gives it a different way of looking at it.

What I am about to post sounds a little off-topic, but it really isn't.

I had a lifelong friend who passed away earlier this year. I met him when I was 3 or 4 years old - he was my uncle's age and was their friend. I only knew him by his nickname, "Strawberry" Of course because of his red hair. That man lived to restore old cars/hotrods professionally. Every generation around here knew and respected him.

My last interaction with him was early this spring. I sent him some tomato transplants that included some blue-when-ripe tomatoes. He was beyond excited to see them produce and taste them.

I had to stop typing for a few minutes.

A new color can be really good.

I don't have money, but maybe I can help you find some of those missing parts?